OLD tubes or NEW tubes. scott vs. jolida

my experience with the older stuff is you must assume you will have to put some money into them to get them operating at peak performance UNLESS the seller advises, and proves, that the older units have been serviced. Tubes and capacitors wear out; if the thing is all original I'd assume you have to put 200 minimum into it as a ballpark figure and that does not include the cost of exotic tubes. Be careful about some of the older amplifiers/preamps; tubes may be hard to come by or non existent

When one can buy a brand new modified Jolida 102 (EL84 around 20 watts I think). There is a seller advertising them new, and modified, for 575. I think I'd take that any day over an original Scott, Dynaco, or Fisher.

On the other hand...check out the guy with the Heathkit mono amps with the dedicated power supplies; they have been rebuilt and are ready to rock and roll. Price is right.

Either would be an excellent choice, but the Scott will likely be a more demanding unit in terms of maintenance, being about 45 years old. If the Scott is original there it could likely stand for some improvement via an overhaul (refurbish). From a good tech who knows what they're doing that will cost a chunck of change with the parts. You could also spend more and purchase a unit already refurbed. Also the biasing procedure on a Scott is going to be a bit more involved than on the Jolida which is fairly straightforward. I have no experience with the newer 707a you mentioned, but can say that the 302b and the 502b both are outstanding amps for the money in every respect. They also leave room for future upgrading of internal components and performance. Other than that they'd be plug-n'-play with a simple bias procedure. I believe your considerations in the vintage Scott's are EL84-based pentode designs. I've heard the 299a and it is a very sweet sounding amp indeed. At 17watts it does not have the muscle the Jolida's I mentioned to, but the pentode design doesn't seem to give that away much. Jolida's 102B would be a closer sound to the Scott, I'm guessing (have not heard one though), than the bigger-bottle amps they offer. I'm pretty sure most of Jolida's stuff is a push-pull design (someone correct me here if I'm wrong). The Jolidas I've owned and heard have had a bit of a rounder fuller sound to them than the Scott 299a, which tends to sound a bit more focused and dynamic to my ears. All are pretty versatile amps with the Scott requiring a bit more efficient speaker. All represent great value for the money, but, again, with a limited budget, and a college-student's schedule, go for the Jolida for a more trouble-free route unless you are a hands-on kind of person who likes to tinker and knows electronics.

Marco

thanks for the responses... your ideas about maintenance and reliability are right on the mark... but let me be more specific. im looking at a scott 340 receiver on ebay at the moment, the seller is reliable and it looks to be and is described as being in amazing condition. I'm also considering a Jolida 707a for sale as well. The jolida will cost me around $700, and the Scott probably around $400. So assuming they are both in great shape, and don't need fixing, how would you compare the sound quality? If your interested just do a search for scott 340 on ebay, it looks pretty fantastic.

These will cost you more, but they're completely reburfished, have a 30 day money back gaurantee and come with a limited warranty. {url=http://www.mapleshaderecords.com/tweaks/tubeamps.php]Mapleshade[/url]. They claim 4 to 6 weeks delivery.

I've not heard their products, but I'm seriously considering buying one for myself.

If you want more information than you can take in on HH Scott components, go to the HH Scott Website which has a ton of information and links.

For restorations and custom restored Scott amps you may also try Craig Ostby who specializes in just that.

Keep in mind also, that with the Scott components you will become dependent on a handfull of NOS tubes as well as more commonly available tubes. The Scott 299c takes 11 tubes, while the receiver you mention takes 20 tubes! No biggie, but thought you should be aware of that.

Marco

PS Regarding the 340 on eBay - Just because it "looks great" and the seller has good feedback does not necessarily mean it will not need work. Again, chances are, if it is all original, no matter how good the outside looks, it could stand for some significant improvements by replacing some of the worn out components. The tuner may also require alignment.